Wow, Lake Norman’s February home sales were stunning, but not in a good way: they were DOWN a whopping 34% compared to last February and the worst February since 2012, The only thing that I can say is that if you have been reading my market reports you know this drop was anticipated but I honestly didn’t think our closed sales would come in quite so low. Not to fret, however, this is not the whole story. What’s next? Let’s take a closer look:

The ultimate dream of many people around the country and even beyond is to own a waterfront home on Lake Norman. Whether a luxury estate or a small vacation cabin, waterfront homeowners all share our gorgeous lake and the special lifestyles that blend together to make Lake Norman so popular for such a wide variety of people.

Buying a waterfront home on Lake Norman isn’t a complicated process but it is extremely important that you start the process with a good understanding of the following and, if possible, at least read Duke Energy’s Shoreline Management Guidelines, the 130-page document I have linked at the bottom of this article.

Here are my thoughts:

1. Private docks: is there one?

Private docks are highly regulated and must be permitted by Duke Energy. Over the years the process has become much more restrictive so you will find that most homes that can have docks will have them in place and even most waterfront lots will already have permitted docks. Without a private, permitted dock, the value of a waterfront property is significantly lower than the same property with a dock. That said, it you want to enjoy living on Lake Norman but your budget doesn’t allow for a waterfront home with a dock, look for the lower priced homes on the water without docks. Most likely you can launch a kayak or canoe from your shoreline and still enjoy being on the lake! To get a permit today, a waterfront lot must have a minimum 100′ of shoreline and meet other stipulations to gain approval from Duke Energy. If you must get a permit, do so BEFORE closing!

2. Look for Permit Plate:

If you are looking at waterfront homes with a dock, you should check to make sure there is a permit affixed to the end of the dock like this one:

3. Measure depth of water and understand possible variations of lake levels

I always bring my tape measure when showing waterfront properties so that we can measure the depth of the water where your boat would be to make sure it has deep enough water for your type of boat etc. I check that morning to find out the current water level of Lake Norman so we can calculate the lowest and highest water depths of your pier/dock/boatslip. The water levels of Lake Norman are controlled by Duke Energy and vary from full pond, 100′ (760′ above sea level) down to about 94′. They use the dam at the south end of the lake to help regulate the water levels.

4. 50′ Setback

The most recent regulations established in 2006 establish a 50′ setback from the 760 line. Within this 50′ setback from the lake to your home there are strict regulations outlined in detail in the Shoreline Management Guidelines. They are meant to protect the 50′ closest to the lake by prohibiting removal of trees and native vegetation, planting of lawns, and size of footpaths. Older properties may violate these rules but they are “grandfathered in”.

Waterfront homes are a part of what makes Lake Norman so popular. What an amazing lifestyle they offer! Yet, during most of 2016 I once again noted, well complained, in my monthly Lake Norman market reports about our mercurial sales in luxury homes, the lack of inventory of good waterfront homes in the under $1 million price ranges and the historically low number of sales of waterfront homes as a percentage of our overall Lake Norman real estate market. So, what is up with waterfront homes? Now that 2016 is in the books I have put our 2016 waterfront home sales numbers in context with the past 11 years. The results are really fascinating if you like numbers! Let’s take a closer look:

The weather was amazing in April! Lake Norman’s gorgeous shoreline is once again decorated with our myriad lush green trees, flowering Azaleas and plants of all kinds. In many places the docks just peak out to let people know that, in fact, someone is lucky enough to live behind those trees on the lake.

I took this picture from the dock of a waterfront lot I just listed in The Point, arguably the most prestigious luxury community on Lake Norman. Since our recovery after the recession, the last remaining lots in The Point and the greater Brawley School Rd. peninsula have been gobbled up and most already have gorgeous new homes on them. Construction is everywhere. There are 3 waterfront homes being built just down the street from me and 3 others are completed. I must admit that it is sometimes hard to see our beautiful, wooded lots disappearing.

The lot in this photo is shoulder to shoulder with some amazing luxury waterfront estates! Check it out: 134 Cape Cod Way.

To be perfectly honest, after such a great 2015 when we logged a healthy 7.3% increase over 2014, I had some concerns about this year particularly given our extremely low inventory of active listings. So far, however, these concerns have been unfounded. After a positive January, we were again in positive territory in February with a respectable 9% increase over February 2015 closed sales. In fact, this February we posted the strongest February since 2007. But where are we trending for the next few months? Let’s take a closer look:

During most of 2015 I noted, well complained, in my monthly Lake Norman market reports about our mercurial sales in luxury homes, the lack of inventory of good waterfront homes in the under $1 million price ranges and the historically low number of sales of waterfront homes as a percentage of our overall Lake Norman real estate market. So, I decided it was time to take a look at Lake Norman’s numbers since 2005 of just our waterfront home sales. The results are really fascinating if you like numbers! Let’s take a closer look:

While Lake Norman is home to a wide variety of people and lifestyles, who doesn’t have fun looking at and learning about our luxury waterfront home sales? Above and below are some of my favorite photos from the top 5 waterfront estates sold in 2015.

Our recent moderate drought has hit Lake Norman particularly hard. Today, according to Duke Energy’s daily lake level chart, our lake is at 94.3 almost 4 feet below the target of 98. If you look at the chart you will notice that Duke Energy has lowered Lake Norman’s level well below the other 16 lakes of the Catawba, Keowee-Toxaway & Broad River. My guess is this may be in part because we have our dam so they are better able to control our levels and are allowing other lakes to retain more water in case the drought doesn’t end soon.

The wonderful photo above was shared by one of my new favorite Lake Norman blogs: homeiswheretheboatis.net in which readers are treated to fun and stunning photos of and articles about her dogs, food/recipes, home decor & decorating ideas, and life in Lake Norman. Continue reading →

Isn’t it reassuring to know that Duke Energy, who controls Lake Norman’s water levels, has a well designed plan which is monitored daily? I took this photo today while showing waterfront properties because you can clearly see the different colors of the shoreline riprap which mark the high, medium and lowest lake levels. The orangish layer closest to the water is under water most of the year. Looking at this, newcomers might think that the lake is abnormally low right now which is true. However, if all goes as planned February should have the lowest water levels of the year according to Duke Energy. In fact, today, at 95.7, we are actually a foot above our “target” of 94.5. The winter draw down of water levels helps us prepare for the spring runoff from the melting snow in the mountains. Continue reading →

There are some positive and interesting Big Picturetrends going on in our Lake Norman real estate market. To help provide some insight I made these graphs comparing waterfront, distressed and new construction closed sales in 2014 to 2013:

As my husband and I were driving home from a lazy Sunday brunch at Sun Up Cafe yesterday, it seemed like the fall colors with the angle of the afternoon sun and blue skies were just too pretty to ignore. I spent the next several hours driving around the Brawley School Road neighborhoods in Mooresville capturing some of the beauty with my camera. Who said you have to go to the mountains to see colorful trees? Enjoy!

I must admit that our Lake Norman October closed home sales were so high that I keep re-doing the search in the MLS thinking there must be an error. Seriously, a 52% increase over October 2013, a 13.7% increase over last month AND the second highest month in all of 2014? I predicted October would be a great month because of the high number of homes under contract last month but even I didn’t expect them to be this high! Let’s take a closer look:

If there is any doubt in your mind that Lake Norman’s real estate market is in a sustained recovery our September 2014 home sales will put an explanation point on it. Not only were our September’s closed home sales substantially higher than last September’s, but they topped even 2006’s and 2007’s! Add to this our very strong numbers of new contracts and pending sales and clearly our activity has not softened as it usually does in late summer early fall and is on pace with our past 4 months. Our Lake Norman housing market is now the most stable it has been since the recession. Let’s take a closer look:

If you are a regular reader of my Lake Norman Real Estate blog, you are familiar with my numerous, comprehensive monthly and quarterly market reports. Obviously, I love numbers. I even have a T-Shirt I won that says “Data Geek” on it! But not all home buyers or sellers want detailed spread sheets so I thought I would add a new feature to this blog: easy to understand pie charts and graphs of the more general sales trends.

Lake Norman Single Family Home Sales by Month

The chart above represents the average home sales by month for the past 10 years. As you can see, historically June represents our highest sales and January and February are tied for the lowest sales. We see a significant increase by April and a fairly significant slowdown by September. 54.4% of Lake Norman’s annual sales are from April through August.

One of the adjustments I had to make when I moved to Lake Norman in 2005 from Pasadena CA was the transition from selling historic, Pre-World War II homes to mostly new or newer construction. We didn’t even have Great Rooms and the Master Bedrooms were always upstairs! Synthetic stucco, what was that? Continue reading →

Not only were our Lake Norman’s home sales for August 2014 higher than last August’s, but our number of properties currently “under contract” are substantially higher than last year’s. Clearly, our activity has not really softened as it usually does in late summer. To me this indicates that our Lake Norman housing market is now more stable than it has been since the recession and is sitting on a stronger foundation. Let’s take a closer look at the August 2014 numbers from our Charlotte Multiple Listing Service for our Lake Norman Area real estate market:

* All data is from the Charlotte Regional Multiple Listing Service. **Please note that the MLS started using an entirely new program in March which did away with Area 13 so my numbers may vary slightly from the past but I have made it as close as possible.Continue reading →

If you haven’t checked out the Mooresville Town Squareon the corner of Brawley School Rd. and Williamson Rd lately then you are definitely in for a great surprise! After a slow start thanks to the recession, it is now a happening place to go. With it’s upscale architecture, beautiful gardens and walking paths it reminds me a little bit of a Birkdale Village in it’s early stages. This 200,000 square foot “lifestyle center” offers great food, hangouts, shopping and services all walkable. Continue reading →

Lake Norman’s real estate market remains robust after a lethargic winter and early spring. Following exceptionally strong closed home sales in June, we slowed a bit in July but are managing to keep up with 2013’s record breaking numbers.

Let’s take a look at the July 2014 numbers from our Charlotte Multiple Listing Service for our Lake Norman Area real estate market:

* All data is from the Charlotte Regional Multiple Listing Service. **Please note that the MLS started using an entirely new program in March which did away with Area 13 so my numbers may vary slightly from the past but I have made it as close as possible.

Wow! Lake Norman waterfront home owners and boaters sure do enjoy amazing sunrises and sunsets! Some take their boats out almost every evening with a glass of wine just to soak in beauty like this photograph above captures so wonderfully. Continue reading →

Want the very latest insight into our Lake Norman real estate market? So do I which is why, every month, I do a snapshot analysis of the middle two weeks of the month to get a sense of where our Lake Norman real estate market is at this very moment…an almost live insight into the heartbeat of the Lake Norman housing market.

Our Lake Norman housing market is now smack dab in the middle of it’s traditionally strongest selling season of the year. The past three months we have seen a dramatic uptick in activity but by this time last year we were already experiencing a slowdown. So far this July, Lake Norman home sales are even higher than last month! We currently have 290 single family homes under contract (sellers have accepted an offer but the sale is not complete) in all of Lake Norman compared to last month’s 262. Continue reading →

If you are a home buyer or seller in the Lake Norman it really only matters what is happening in YOUR price-range. Yes, it is important to know about the global economy, the national economy and the Charlotte area economy and real estate market but real estate is hyper-local so it is most meaningful to learn about the Lake Norman real estate market and within that, your specific niche. For instance, if you are looking to buy or sell in the $400,000 price range, you are going to have an entirely different experience than someone in the $500,000’s. This is the reason why I create a price-range analysis every quarter for my readers:

*Compiled from the Charlotte Regional Multiple Listing Service’s data, this chart enables you to focus on your specific price range(s) rather than use the broad-brush approach thus allowing you to size up your competition and better position yourself. Continue reading →

Wow! Look what June brought to our Lake Norman real estate market: An 11% increase over June 2013’s closed sales AND the highest number of closed single family homes since June 2007! Our sales this June even surpassed last year’s record breaking May sales.

Let’s take a look at the June 2014 numbers from our Charlotte Multiple Listing Service for our Lake Norman Area real estate market:

* All data is from the Charlotte Regional Multiple Listing Service. **Please note that the MLS started using an entirely new program last month which did away with Area 13 so my numbers may vary slightly from the past but I have made it as close as possible.

At the very end of a cul-de-sac in the popular Lake Norman subdivision of Northington Woods sits a lot for sale that is full of dreams. Imagine owning a 5.26 heavily wooded acres of land with its own stream in an upscale Lake Norman waterfront community! Continue reading →

While our Lake Norman home sales numbers for May did not match May 2013’s record setting sales, they were the second best May since the recession and 8.4% higher than last month’s. Not bad! After struggling since late fall, our real estate market has jumped back to life with surprising strength and velocity and it looks like this will continue into the early summer months at least.

Let’s take a look at the May 2014 numbers from our Charlotte Multiple Listing Service for our Lake Norman Area real estate market:

* All data is from the Charlotte Regional Multiple Listing Service. **Please note that the MLS started using an entirely new program last month which did away with Area 13 so my numbers may vary slightly from the past but I have made it as close as possible.

Some significant additional statistics for you:

“Distressed sales” (Foreclosures (REOS), defaults, Short Sales) represented only 5.5% of Lake Norman’s total home sales which was the lowest since the recession and down from last month’s 9.4, and significantly lower than January’s 29%. We only had 7 distressed home sales in May. The average price for distressed single family home sales was $284,332. Distressed active listings comprise only 2.4% of our total inventory of Lake Norman homes sale. Clearly distressed sales no longer play a significant role in our Lake Norman real estate market and this is very good news!

33.6% of our May home sales were waterfront homes which was up from 23% last month and back to where they normally are after a very slow winter and early spring. The average sales price of a Lake Norman waterfront home in May was $777,086. Our average price per square foot, at $256.97, was up significantly from last month’s $216.34 and even our peak of$229 last summer. Clearly we are seeing new life in our Lake Norman trade-up price ranges after a rather long slump!

14 new construction homes closed in May through our MLS but this does not reflect an accurate picture of new home sales since so many are custom or are purchased directly from the builders and therefore never enter the MLS. (In fact, this segment of the market may be skewing our Lake Norman home sales numbers quite a bit). The average listing price vs sales price of new construction single family homes was 100%. Clearly there isn’t a lot if ANY wiggle room on prices of new homes. We currently have 33 new construction homes under contract in the MLS. The average sales price in May logged in at $424,839.

43.5% of Lake Norman’s May single family home sales were under $400,000. This is a huge drop from the staggering 59.8% last month. Clearly our higher priced homes are selling again!

63.4% of the entire Lake Norman home sales in May were under $500,000 down from 69.4% last month. This means almost 20% of our sales in May were in the $400,000’s!

Our “Under Contract Show” AND “Under Contract No show”/Pending sales combined total of 262 were down slightly from last month’s 274. At 262 Lake Norman has 10.5% FEWER homes under contract compared to last year’s 293 at this exact date, while we aren’t quite matching last year’s hot numbers, we have improved immensely in the past two months. We have definitely stopped the bleeding but, like with the rest of the US, it is still going to be really tough to match our strong 2013 sales.

Want the very latest insight into our Lake Norman real estate market? So do I which is why, every month, I do a snapshot analysis of the middle two weeks of the month to get a sense of where our Lake Norman real estate market is at this very moment…an almost live insight into the heartbeat of the Lake Norman housing market. These Hot Sheet reports serve as pretty good predictors of our short-term Lake Norman real estate market.

Our Lake Norman housing market is now smack dab in the middle of it’s traditionally strongest selling season of the year. Last month we saw a dramatic uptick in activity and thankfully that trend is continuing! We currently have 285 single family homes under contract (sellers have accepted an offer but the sale is not complete) in all of Lake Norman compared to last month’s 264. After exceeding last year’s closed sales in April, are we on track to May 2013 record sales?

Lake Norman Real Estate’s Two-Week Hot Sheet

5/21/2014

* The above chart is a summary of today’s “Hot Sheet” from the Charlotte Multiple Listing Service for single family homes in all of Lake Norman. These numbers represent a real time snapshot of the past two week’s activity. (May 7th – 21st). As always, I have included the past 5 months so that you can put these numbers in perspective. Continue reading →

For the first time in 2014, Lake Norman home sales were higher than the same month a year ago and the highest since 2007! After struggling since late fall, our real estate market has jumped back to life with surprising strength and velocity. Lake Norman single family home sales were 4% higherthan last April’s and a whopping 37.6% higher than last month’s. March seems to have been the “bottom” of our mini housing dip with 17% fewer closed sales than March 2013. But, the higher “under contact” numbers that showed up last month clearly converted to strong closed sales in April.

Let’s take a look at the April 2014 numbers from our Charlotte Multiple Listing Service for our Lake Norman Area real estate market:

* All data is from the Charlotte Regional Multiple Listing Service. Please note that the MLS started using an entirely new program this month which did away with Area 13 so my numbers may vary slightly from the past but I have made it as close as possible.

Some significant additional statistics for you:

“Distressed sales” (Foreclosures (REOS), defaults, Short Sales) represented 9.4% of Lake Norman’s total home sales which were down slightly from last month’s 11.25, lower than February’s 13.6% and significantly lower than last January’s 29%. We only had 11 distressed home sales in April. The average price for distressed single family home sales was only $197,173. Distressed active listings comprise only 2.9% of our total inventory of Lake Norman homes sale. Clearly distressed sales no longer play a significant role in our Lake Norman real estate market and this is very good news!

Only 23% of our April closed sales were waterfront homes which was even down from 25% last month. The average sales price of a Lake Norman waterfront home in April was $855,894 which is down from last month and most of last summer as well. In April our closed luxury housing sales inched up. Our average price per square foot, at $216.34, was down from last month’s $221.14 and is still well below our peak of$229 last summer. That said, overall Lake Norman’s waterfront home sales above $800,000 are improving.

Only 5 new construction homes closed in April through our MLS but this does not reflect an accurate picture of new home sales since so many are custom or are purchased directly from the builders and therefore never enter the MLS. (In fact, this segment of the market may be skewing our Lake Norman home sales numbers quite a bit). The average listing price vs sales price of new construction single family homes was 98%. Clearly there isn’t a lot if ANY wiggle room on prices of new homes. We currently have 44 new construction homes under contract in the MLS. The average sales price in April logged in at $308,967.

59.8% of Lake Norman’s April single family home sales were under $400,000.

68.4 % of the entire Lake Norman home sales in April were under $500,000. Clearly our lower price ranges are still dominating our housing market.

Our “Under Contract Show” AND “Under Contract No show”/Pending sales combined total of 274 shot up for the second month in a row. ( Last month’s was 243 and February’s was 187). At 274 Lake Norman has 13.2% FEWER homes under contract compared to last year’s 316 at this exact date so we are not up to May 2013 but this is the highest number of homes under contract since last July! We have stopped the bleeding and are definitely on the mend but it is still going to be really tough to match our strong 2013 sales.

After a tough fall and winter, Lake Norman’s real estate market seems to be coming to life simultaneously with the arrival of spring temperatures. Perhaps we actually can blame our weak housing market on the weather and the tightened mortgage requirements like the national pundits are doing. That said, we can’t blame it on a lack of inventory like parts of the US. All I know is that it is such a relief to see a marked increase in real estate activity here in Lake Norman after such a bad spell! March seems to be the “bottom” of our mini housing dip with 17% fewer closed sales than last March. However new contracts are nearly up to last year’s for the first time in months.

Let’s take a look at the March 2014 numbers from our Charlotte Multiple Listing Service for our Lake Norman Area 13 real estate market:

* All data is from the Charlotte Regional Multiple Listing Service

Some significant additional statistics for you:

“Distressed sales” (Foreclosures (REOS), defaults, Short Sales) represented 11.25% of Lake Norman’s total home sales which is up from last months 5.6 but lower than February’s 13.6% and significantly lower than last January’s 29%. We only had 9 distressed home sales in March. The average price for distressed single family home sales was $309,396. Distressed active listings comprise only 2.7% of our total inventory of Lake Norman homes sale. Clearly distressed sales no longer play a significant role in our Lake Norman real estate market and this is very good news!

Only 25% of our March closed sales were waterfront homes but this is up from 20% last month. The average sales price of Lake Norman waterfront homes in March was $1,008,891; significantly higher than last month’s $805,203 and even topped last summer’s high of $990,693 in June due in part to a $4.85 million sale. In March our closed luxury housing sales remained weak but they have improved significantly in the past weeks. Our average price per square foot, at $221.14, is still below our peak of$229 last summer but is rising. Lake Norman’s waterfront home sales above $700,000 are also improving.

13 new construction homes closed in March representing 16.25% of our total sales. I believe this does not reflect an accurate picture of new home sales since so many are custom or are purchased directly from the builders and therefore never enter the MLS. (In fact, this segment of the market may be skewing our Lake Norman home sales numbers quite a bit). The average listing price vs sales price of new construction single family homes,99%! Clearly there isn’t a lot if ANY wiggle room on prices of new homes. We currently have 51 new construction homes under contract in the MLS. The average sales price in March logged in at $451,415. With 132 new construction active listings Lake Norman actually has a 10.2 months supply of new homes listed in the MLS.

53.75% of Lake Norman’s February home sales were under $400,000.

67.5 % of the entire Lake Norman home sales in March were under $500,000. Clearly our lower price ranges are still dominating our housing market.

Our “Under Contract Show” AND “Under Contract No show”/Pending sales combined total of 243 shot up from last month’s 187. At 243 Lake Norman has 16.2% FEWER homes under contract compared to last year’s 290 at this exact date. This is the highest number since last August. Considering this and the improvement from last month’s -26.6% it looks like we have stopped the bleeding and are on the mend.

Unfortunately, the Lake Norman real estate market’s relatively weak late fall 2013 and January 2014 sales appear not to have been a fluke. We can blame it on the weather and the tightened mortgage requirements like the national pundits are doing. But we can’t blame it on a lack of inventory like parts of the US. Last month I emphasized that Lake Norman real estate sales “almost matched last year’s“. I am not sure, with double digit declines in February, that this description is still valid. Our overall home sales slowdown in Lake Norman is baffling enough but the biggest question I have right now is where in the heck did our waterfront and higher-end buyers go? And, is the impressive return of new construction a factor in our lower MLS numbers since many of these sales are not listed?

Let’s take a look at the February 2014 numbers from our Charlotte Multiple Listing Service for our Lake Norman Area 13 real estate market:

* All date is from the Charlotte Regional Multiple Listing Service

Some significant additional statistics for you:

“Distressed sales” (Foreclosures (REOS), defaults, Short Sales) represented only 5.7% of Lake Norman’s total home sales which is down from from last month’s 13.6% and significantly lower than last January’s 29%. We only had 4 distressed home sales in February. The average price for distressed single family home sales was $359.875. Distressed active listings comprise only 2.7% of our total inventory of Lake Norman homes sale. Clearly distressed sales no longer play a significant role in our Lake Norman real estate market and this is very good news!

Only 20% of our closed sales were waterfront homes which is down from 30.3% last month and well below our norm. The average sales price of Lake Norman waterfront homes in February was $805,203 which was about equal to last month’s. Our highest recent waterfront sales were last July’s $874,988 and June’s $990,693. In February our closed luxury housing sales were negligible. Our average price per square foot was $227.23 which was actually up from last month’s $219 and almost matched our peak of$229 last summer. Lake Norman’s waterfront home sales above $700,000 remain sluggish but the homes that are selling are getting relatively strong offers based upon their size.

9 new construction homes closed in February but I believe this does not reflect an accurate picture of new home sales since so many are custom or are purchased directly from the builders and therefore never enter the MLS. (In fact, this segment of the market may be skewing our Lake Norman home sales numbers quite a bit). The average listing price vs sales price of new construction single family homes, bounced back up to 101%! Clearly there isn’t a lot if ANY wiggle room on prices of new homes. We currently have 39 new construction homes under contract in the MLS. The average sales price in February was up, logging in at $460,800. With 132 new construction active listings Lake Norman actually has a 14.7 months supply of new homes listed in the MLS.

51.4% of Lake Norman’s February home sales were under $400,000.

68.6 % of the entire Lake Norman home sales in February were under $500,000. Clearly our lower price ranges are still dominating our housing market.

Our “Under Contract Show” AND “Under Contract No show”/Pending sales combined total of 187 is about equal to last month’s. At 187, Lake Norman has 26.6% FEWER homes under contract compared to last year’s 255 at this exact date. This is the number that truly scares me for our short term market. I can’t see how we will get close to the 2013 sales numbers for at least the next few months. Good properties are selling, but buyers seem willing to wait for their perfect home since there so few “bargains” enticing them to jump off the fence.

Want the very latest insight into our Lake Norman real estate market? So do I which is why, every month, I do a snapshot analysis of the middle two weeks of the month to get a sense of where our Lake Norman real estate market is at this very moment…an almost live insight into the heartbeat of the Lake Norman housing market. These Hot Sheet reports serve as pretty good predictors of our short-term Lake Norman real estate market.

Well, there is nothing like 10″ of snow to dampen our Lake Norman housing market which has been struggling so hard to gain traction after a slow January! We currently have 186 single family homes under contract (sellers have accepted an offer but the sale is not complete) in all of Lake Norman which is about equal to last month’s Hot Sheet. Last February we had a whopping 249 single family homes under contract on the same date as today. Clearly, at a time when our market should be heating up we are still luke warm. Let’s take a look at a snapshot of the past two weeks’ activity:

Lake Norman Real Estate’s Two-Week Hot Sheet

2/20/2014

* The above chart is a summary of today’s “Hot Sheet” from the Charlotte Multiple Listing Service for single family homes in all of Lake Norman (area 13). These numbers represent a real time snapshot of the past two week’s activity. (February 6th – 20th). As always, I have included the past 5 months so that you can put these numbers in perspective. Continue reading →

After a very disappointing November, but a respectable December, January is an important gauge of just where our Lake Norman real estate market is headed. Lake Norman’s January housing market started out quite slowly but picked up enough to almost match last year’s sales. Yes, I said “almost match last year’s“. I think we are going to hear a lot of this throughout 2014. 2013 was a recording breaking year both for Lake Norman home sales which were up 19.7% versus 2012 but also for the nation as well. Like the nation, however, Lake Norman experienced a marked slowdown in the 4th quarter. Last January’s 72 sales were the best since 2007 as were all but two months in 2013. Most economists feel that the national housing market will struggle to match the strong 2013 numbers in 2014 and our January Lake Norman numbers indicate that this may also be true here.

Here are the January 2014 numbers from our Charlotte Multiple Listing Service for our Lake Norman Area 13 real estate market:

* All date is from the Charlotte Regional Multiple Listing Service

Some significant additional statistics for you:

“Distressed sales” (Foreclosures (REOS), defaults, Short Sales) represented 13.6% of Lake Norman’s total home sales which is up from last month’s low but down from 14.8% in November and significan’t lower than last January’s 29%. We only had 9 distressed home sales in January. The average price for distressed single family home sales was $326,555 compared to an earlier low of $252,526. Distressed active listings comprise only 1.9% of our total inventory of Lake Norman homes sale. Clearly distressed sales no longer play a significant role in our Lake Norman real estate market!

30.3% of our closed sales were waterfront homes which is down slightly from last month. The average sales price of Lake Norman waterfront homes in January was $809,625 which was the highest since July’s $874,988, June’s $990,693 and higher than May’s $778,045. In January we had an slight uptick in our luxury housing market. Our average price per square foot was $219 after peaking at$229 earlier this year. Lake Norman’s waterfront home sales above $700,000 remain sluggish but the homes that are selling are getting relatively strong offers based upon their size.

7 new construction homes closed in January down slightly from the last few months. The average listing price vs sales price of new construction single family homes, while strong at 99% was actually down from an impressive 103% last month. Clearly there isn’t a lot if ANY wiggle room on prices of new homes. We currently have 46 new construction homes under contract. The average sales price in December was down, logging in at $394,006 compared to 476,627 last month, 448,564 in November, $359,018 in October and$406,596 in September. It is important to note that many of the new construction homes you will see driving around Lake Norman are custom homes or will be sold directly from the builder to the home-buyer so will not be included in our Multiple Listing Service numbers.

47% of Lake Norman’s October home sales were under $400,000.

63.6 % of the entire Lake Norman home sales in January were under $500,000. Clearly our lower price ranges are still dominating our housing market.

Our “Under Contract Show” AND “Under Contract No show”/Pending sales combined total of 185 was the first time in nine months that we saw an upswing in these numbers after April’s record high of 319 . At 185, we are well below last year’s 219 at this exact date. So, while we are definitely seeing an upswing in activity, it looks like we will really struggle to match last February’s sales. Sound familiar?

Lake Norman waterfront home owners and boaters enjoy amazing sunrises and sunsets! Some take their boats out almost every evening with a glass of wine just to soak in beauty like this photograph above captures so wonderfully.

This gorgeous photo was taken by renowned artist Cotton Ketchie, owner of Mooresville’sLandmark Galleries, who spends much of his time driving all over North Carolina and even summer trips around the country, taking stunning photos. And, of course, he also takes some amazing photos of Lake Norman as well. If you haven’t visited his store on Main Street in Historic Downtown Mooresville you should put it on your list for 2014! He has myriad beautiful photographs like this one for sale as well as his wonderful watercolors and even North Carolina pottery.

To make your desktop calendar, go to the round button at the top of this site’s home page entitled: “Lake Norman Calendar”. Click on this button and up will come this image of my Lake Norman photo wallpaper calender for February 2014. All you have to do is right click and select “set as background”. This is a copyrighted photo so please understand that I can not send you a copy of this photo without the calendar. Thank you! Continue reading →

Want the very latest insight into our Lake Norman real estate market? So do I which is why, every month, I do a snapshot analysis of the middle two weeks of the month to get a sense of where our Lake Norman real estate market is at this very moment…an almost live insight into the heartbeat of the Lake Norman housing market. These Hot Sheet reports serve as pretty good predictors of our short-term Lake Norman real estate market.

Lake Norman’s 4th quarter 2013 real estate sales definitely softened after some rather spectacular months but we still ended the year 18.5% higher than 2012. Today’s Hot Sheet numbers give us our first real glimpse into Lake Norman’s 2014 housing market’s health and it is looking good for the next few months after January. The numbers below actually indicate a significant uptick in the NEW Lake Norman home sales contracts opened in the past two weeks. So, while our closed sales for January may not be stellar, our market is definitely picking up rather quickly. We currently have 184 single family homes under contract (sellers have accepted an offer but the sale is not complete) in all of Lake Norman which is up significantly from last month’s Hot Sheet number of 164 and identical to last January’s but still well below the 206 in November, October’s 211, September’s 217, August’s 253, July’s 260, June’s 301 and May’s high of 330. Let’s take a look at a snapshot of the past two weeks’ activity:

Lake Norman Real Estate’s Two-Week Hot Sheet

1/21/2014

Lake Norman Real Estate’s January 2014 Hot Sheet Sales Analysis

* The above chart is a summary of today’s “Hot Sheet” from the Charlotte Multiple Listing Service for single family homes in all of Lake Norman (area 13). These numbers represent a real time snapshot of the past two week’s activity. (January 7th – 21st). As always, I have included the past 6 months so that you can put these numbers in perspective.

Life in Lake Norman for many means breathtaking sunrises and sunsets on the water every day. It means walking from your backyard to your boat and taking off to go water skiing, sailing, tubing, fishing or just enjoying a glass of wine at sunset. It is truly impossible to describe just how beautiful Lake Norman is and the quality of life those of us lucky enough to live here enjoy.

Living in a waterfront home is the ultimate goal of many who move here. Our downturn in housing prices since the recession opened a window of opportunity for many who couldn’t afford a waterfront home at the peak of our market. However, our Lake Norman real estate market is well in to its recovery. And, with distressed properties representing only 3% of our current inventory, clearly they no longer are a factor in our waterfront housing market as well as our overall home sales. It is important for potential home-buyers and sellers to know as much as possible about our waterfront home prices in the context of where they have been and where they are trending. To assist with this, I have done a detailed analysis of our 2013 waterfront home sales including annual, area and price range numbers:

Overall Lake Norman waterfront home sales by year since 2005

Lake Norman waterfront home sales since 2005

* All data is from the Charlotte Regional Multiple Listing Service

As you can see, the number of Lake Norman’s waterfront home sales has been steadily improving since their low in 2008 with 2013 being the best year since 2005. However, our average sales price has only been on the rise since 2012. At $793.742 in 2013 they increased 1.7% over 2012 and are well below our record high of $982,345 in 2008. Finally, our average price per square foot for waterfront homes that sold in 2013 was up 4.7% from 2012 and are nearly back to our 2009 numbers but still significantly below our peak of $270 per square foot.

After a very disappointing November, our Lake Norman real estate sales for December came in better than I expected and 2% higher than last December’s thus ending 2013 on a positive note. Our December 2013 home sales were actually the best since 2006 which is only the fourth month we have accomplished this in 7 years! I fear our celebration will be short lived however given the numbers below. There are also some interesting trends in our overall Lake Norman housing market so let’s take a closer look at the numbers to glean some insight into the short term future and exactly where the Lake Norman housing market stands right now.

Here are the December 2013 numbers from our Charlotte Multiple Listing Service for our Lake Norman Area 13 real estate market:

Lake Norman Real Estate’s December 2013 Sales Analysis Chart

* Note that the Charlotte Regional Multiple Listing Service created two new categories, Under Contract Showings (UCS) to continue and Under Contract no showings (UCNS). These replaced the Contingent, Conditional and Pending categories.

Some significant additional statistics for you:

“Distressed sales” (Foreclosures (REOS), defaults, Short Sales) plummeted to a new low of 5.3% of Lake Norman’s total home sales which is down from 14.8 last month. Prior months were: 11.3% in October, 15% in September, 9.4% in August, 11.3% in July, 6.9% in June, 10.6% in May , the 14% in April, 20.4% in March, 16.9% in February and January’s 29%. We only had 5 distressed home sales in December. The average price for distressed single family home sales was $413,757 compared to an earlier low of $252,526. Distressed active listings comprise only 3.5% of our total inventory of Lake Norman homes sale. Clearly distressed sales no longer play a significant role in our Lake Norman real estate market!

31.6 % of our closed sales were waterfront homes which is up from the last several months. The average sales price of Lake Norman waterfront homes in December was $772,116 which was the highest since July’s $874,988, June’s $990,693 and May’s $778,045. In December we had an slight uptick in our luxury housing market. Our average price per square foot remained $216 after peaking at$229 earlier this year. Lake Norman’s waterfront home sales above $700,000 remain sluggish but the homes that are selling are getting relatively strong offers based upon their size.

11 new construction homes sold in December which is identical to November. The average listing price vs sales price of new construction single family homes was an impressive 103%! Clearly there isn’t a lot if ANY wiggle room on prices of new homes. We currently have 41 new construction homes under contract. The average sales price in December was up, logging in at $476,627 compared to 448,564 last month, $359,018 in October and$406,596 in September. It is important to note that many of the new construction homes you will see driving around Lake Norman are custom homes or will be sold directly from the builder to the homebuyer so will not be included in our Multiple Listing Service numbers.

50.53% of Lake Norman’s October home sales were under $400,000.

61 % of the entire Lake Norman home sales in December were under $500,000 which is the lowest in all of 2013. it is truly refreshing to see some improvement in our trade-up and luxury housing markets after an abysmal late summer and fall.

Our “Under Contract Show” AND “Under Contract No show”/Pending sales combined total of 155 was the eighth month in a row of decline after April’s record high of 319 . At 155, these are the lowest combined totals since February of 2012 and well below last year’s 184. This does not bode well for our January/February 2014 sales.

Want the very latest insight into our Lake Norman real estate market? So do I which is why, every month, I do a snapshot analysis of the middle two weeks of the month to get a sense of where our Lake Norman real estate market is at this very moment…an almost live insight into the heartbeat of the Lake Norman housing market. These Hot Sheet reports serve as pretty good predictors of our short-term Lake Norman real estate market.

Lake Norman’s 2013 real estate sales have been breaking records since January 1st. After peaking in May, Lake Norman home sales have trended downward every month since landing with a thud in November. However, the numbers below actually indicate a significant uptick in closed Lake Norman home sales contracts in the past few weeks. The bad news is that we currently have only 164 single family homes under contract (sellers have accepted an offer but the sale is not complete) in all of Lake Norman which is down significantly from last month’s Hot Sheet number of 206, October’s 211, September’s 217, August’s 253, July’s 260, June’s 301 and May’s high of 330. Let’s take a look at a snapshot of the past two weeks’ activity:

Lake Norman Real Estate’s Two-Week Hot Sheet

12/21/2013

Lake Norman home sales activity for the past two weeks

Lake Norman Real Estate’s December 2013 Hot Sheet Sales Analysis

* The above chart is a summary of today’s “Hot Sheet” from the Charlotte Multiple Listing Service for single family homes in all of Lake Norman (area 13). These numbers represent a real time snapshot of the past two week’s activity. (December 7th – 21st). As always, I have included the past 6 months so that you can put these numbers in perspective. Continue reading →

Our Lake Norman real estate market set a record in November but unfortunately not a positive one! For the first time since December 2011 Lake Norman home sales did not exceed the same month a year prior. As of today, our November closed sales are 10% below November 2012’s. That said, they are still the second highest November since 2007. While disappointing, this is not a surprise based upon the softening trends I have noted consistently for the past several months. Within the overall Lake Norman housing market there are some interesting trends that will be examined below so let’s take a closer look at the numbers to glean some insight into the short term future and exactly where the Lake Norman housing market stands right now.

Here are the November 2013 numbers from our Charlotte Multiple Listing Service for our Lake Norman Area 13 real estate market:

Lake Norman Real Estate’s November 2013 Sales Analysis Chart

* Note that the Charlotte Regional Multiple Listing Service created two new categories, Under Contract Showings (UCS) to continue and Under Contract no showings (UCNS). These replaced the Contingent, Conditional and Pending categories.

Some significant additional statistics for you:

“Distressed sales” (Foreclosures (REOS), defaults, Short Sales) comprised 14.8% of Lake Norman’s total home sales which is up from 11.3% last month. Prior months were: 15% in September, 9.4% in August, 11.3% in July, 6.9% in June, 10.6% in May , the 14% in April, 20.4% in March, 16.9% in February and January’s 29%. We only had 13 distressed home sales in November. The average price for distressed single family home sales was $241,588 compared to an earlier low of $252,526. Distressed active listings comprise only 2.7% of our total inventory of Lake Norman homes sale!

26.1 % of our closed sales were waterfront homes which is about equal to last month but well below September’s 34.6%. The average sales price of Lake Norman waterfront homes in November was $696,900 compared to $662,850 last month and September’s $738,972, August’s $709,753, July’s $874,988 June’s $990,693 and May’s $778,045. What is really interesting to note is that the average price per square foot actually increased for the second month in a row to $216.15 compared to $211.11 last month and $215.43 in September after peaking at$229. Our waterfront home sales above $700,000 remain sluggish but the homes that are selling are getting relatively strong offers based upon their size.

11 new construction homes sold in November. The average listing price vs sales price of new construction single family homes remains 101%! Clearly there isn’t a lot if ANY wiggle room on prices of new homes. We currently have 49 new construction homes under contract. The average sales price in November was up, logging in at $448,564 compared to $359,018 last month and$406,596 in September. It is important to note that many of the new construction homes you will see driving around the lake are custom homes so will not be included in our Multiple Listing Service numbers.

56.8% of Lake Norman’s October home sales were under $400,000.

A whopping 73.86 % of the entire Lake Norman home sales in October were under $500,000 which is down slightly from last month’s 75.25% but up from 66.3% in September and more in line with February’s 81.7%, 81% in January, 74 % in December and 75% last November. After seeing an upswing in both the trade-up price ranges and our Lake Norman luxury homes over the late spring and summer, we have now had several pretty weak months in a row of sales in our trade-up and luxury housing markets.

Our “Under Contract Show” AND “Under Contract No show”/Pending sales combined total of 197 was the seventh month in a row of decline after April’s record high of 319 . At 197, we dropped down from last month’s 207 but are now equal to last year’s 197. It appears that the bleeding has stopped and our Lake Norman housing market may have stabilized but it doesn’t look like we will see double digit sales increases again any time soon.

Want the very latest insight into our Lake Norman real estate market? So do I which is why, every month, I do a snapshot analysis of the middle two weeks of the month to get a sense of where our Lake Norman real estate market is at this very moment…an almost live insight into the heartbeat of the Lake Norman housing market. These Hot Sheet reports serve as pretty good predictors of our short-term Lake Norman real estate market.

Lake Norman’s 2013 real estate sales have been breaking records since January 1st. That said, there is no doubt in my mind that our number of monthly home sales peaked in May and have been trending downward every month since. However, the numbers below actually indicate a slight uptick in new Lake Norman home sales contracts in the past few weeks. We currently have 206 single family homes under contract in all of Lake Norman which is down slightly from last month’s Hot Sheet number of 211, September’s 217, August’s 253, July’s 260, June’s 301 and May’s high of 330. But, the number of new contracts has jumped back up after a drop last month. Let’s take a look at a snapshot of the past two weeks’ activity:

Lake Norman Real Estate’s Two-Week Hot Sheet

11/21/2013

Lake Norman Real Estate’s November 2013 Hot Sheet Sales Analysis

* The above chart is a summary of today’s “Hot Sheet” from the Charlotte Multiple Listing Service for single family homes in all of Lake Norman (area 13). These numbers represent a real time snapshot of the past two week’s activity. (November 7th – 21th). As always, I have included the past 6 months so that you can put these numbers in perspective. Continue reading →

Lake Norman’s 520 miles of shoreline offer an amazing variety of waterfront homes and lifestyles. From flat lots with beaches like the one pictured above to steeper lots with walk-out basements, from heavily wooded to almost treeless lots, from grand estates to tiny cabins, and from main channel views to small coves that remind one of Huckleberry Finn, there truly is a dream home and lifestyle available for just about every waterfront home buyer!

The Lake Norman waterfront housing market was hit particularly hard during the recession; bottoming out in 2011. With our distressed sales (foreclosures and short sales) now down to less than 3% of our entire Lake Norman housing inventory of active listings, waterfront homes sales prices have not just stabilized but are now increasing annually:

As you can see above, the average prices of Lake Norman waterfront homes have increased since 2011. The average price so far this year is 1.7% higher than in all of 2012 and 3% higher than 2011. And, the average price per square foot has increased 4.5% since 2012 and a healthy 8.7% since 2011.

With 64 waterfront homes under contract as of today added to the 352 sold so far in 2013 it looks like we will have at least 416 total waterfront home sales in 2013 which would be the strongest year of waterfront sales since 2005!

Clearly, the last segment of our Lake Norman real estate market to fully recover is our high-end luxury housing market. This has contributed to our lower average sales than our strong sales volume might indicate. That said, in the past 6 months our waterfront homes sold for an average of $220 per square foot taking us back to our 2009 numbers. Clearly, once our larger home sales pick up our average sales price will also increase bringing us ever closer to our peak in 2008.

With 357 waterfront homes currently on the market in Lake Norman, now is a good time to consider a purchase because I have a feeling in the spring of 2014 not only will sales be even stronger but higher-end home buyers will return to the market in higher numbers as well. Carpe Diem!

Change continues to be in the air in our Lake Norman real estate market. Lake Norman’s closed home sales have maintained historically strong numbers (post the recession) each month in 2013 but they are continuing their softening trend since our record setting high in May. While we still logged in some solid closed home sales numbers in October, we actually appear to be struggling right now to be able to keep our sales up above last year’s for the rest of this fall/winter. At 97 single-family home sales in October we logged in the best October since 2006 but our gains of +5% compared to last October were the smallest monthly gains posted in 2013.

Let’s take a closer look at the numbers to glean some insight into the short term future and exactly where the Lake Norman housing market stands right now.

Here are the October 2013 numbers from our Charlotte Multiple Listing Service for our Lake Norman Area 13 real estate market:

* Note that the Charlotte Regional Multiple Listing Service created two new categories, Under Contract Showings (UCS) to continue and Under Contract no showings (UCNS). These replaced the Contingent, Conditional and Pending categories.

Some significant additional statistics for you:

“Distressed sales” (Foreclosures (REOS), defaults, Short Sales) comprised 11.3% of Lake Norman’s total home sales which is down from 15% last month. Prior months were: 9.4% in August, 11.3% in July, 6.9% in June, 10.6% in May , the 14% in April, 20.4% in March, 16.9% in February and January’s 29%. We only had 11 distressed home sales in October. The average price for distressed single family home sales was $337,972 compared to an earlier low of $252,526. Distressed active listings comprise only 3.1% of our total inventory of Lake Norman homes sale! According to a recent article on Realtor.org in the US foreclosures and short sales represented 12% of August sales.

26.8 % of our closed sales were waterfront homes which is well below last month’s 34.6%. The average sales price of Lake Norman waterfront homes in October was $662,850 also well below not only September’s $738,972 but also August’s $709,753, July’s $874,988 June’s $990,693 and May’s $778,045. What is really interesting to note is that the average price per square foot actually increased slightly from $211.11 last month to $215.43 after peaking at$229. Our waterfront home sales have dropped significantly over the past months above $700,000 but the homes that are selling in the lower price ranges are getting relatively strong offers based upon their size.

16 new construction homes sold in October which was twice the number last month. The average listing price vs sales price of new construction single family homes remains 101%! Clearly there isn’t a lot if ANY wiggle room on prices of new homes. We currently have 46 new construction homes under contract. The average sales price in October was down, logging in at $359,018 compared to last month’s $406,596. It is important to note that many of the new construction homes you will see driving around the lake are custom homes so will not be included in our Multiple Listing Service numbers.

62.8% of Lake Norman’s October home sales were under $400,000 up from 55% last month.

A whopping 75.25 % of the entire Lake Norman home sales in October were under $500,000 which is up from 66.3% last month and more in line with February’s 81.7%, 81% in January, 74 % in December, 75% in November. After seeing an upswing in both the trade-up price ranges and our Lake Norman luxury homes earlier in the summer, we have now had several pretty weak months of sales in our trade-up and luxury housing markets.

Our “Under Contract Show” AND “Under Contract No show”/Pending sales combined total of 207 was the sixth month in a row of decline after April’s record high of 319 . At 207, we match last month’s so it appears we may have stopped the bleeding but there are still fewer homes under contract than any other month in 2013 except January. It is not only clear that our Lake Norman housing market has definitely slowed down but now we appear to be struggling to keep pace with 2012.

Want the very latest insight into our Lake Norman real estate market? So do I which is why, every month, I do a snapshot analysis of the middle two weeks of the month to get a sense of where our Lake Norman real estate market is at this very moment…an almost live insight into the heartbeat of the Lake Norman housing market. These Hot Sheet reports serve as pretty good predictors of our short-term Lake Norman real estate market.

Lake Norman’s 2013 real estate sales have been breaking records since January 1st. That said, there is no doubt in my mind that our number of monthly home sales peaked in May and have been trending downward every month since. The numbers below further substantiate this as we see a drop in the number of homes that have gone under contract and closed so far this month. We currently have 211 single family homes under contract in all of Lake Norman which is down slightly from last month’s Hot Sheet number of 217, August’s 253, July’s 260, June’s 301 and May’s high of 330 but they are slightly above our end of September’s number of 207. Are our sales leveling out rather than trending downward? Let’s take a look at a snapshot of the past two weeks’ activity:

Lake Norman Real Estate’s Two-Week Hot Sheet

10/21/2013

* The above chart is a summary of today’s “Hot Sheet” from the Charlotte Multiple Listing Service for single family homes in all of Lake Norman (area 13). These numbers represent a real time snapshot of the past two week’s activity. (October 7th – 21th). As always, I have included the past 6 months so that you can put these numbers in perspective. Continue reading →

If you are a home buyer or seller in the Lake Norman it really only matters what is happening in YOUR price-range. Yes, it is important to know about the global economy, the national economy and the Charlotte area economy and real estate market but real estate is hyper-local so it is most meaningful to learn about the Lake Norman real estate market and within that, your specific niche. For instance, if you are looking to buy or sell in the $400,000 price range, you are going to have an entirely different experience than someone in the $500,000’s. This is the reason why I create a price-range analysis every quarter for my readers:

*Compiled from the Charlotte Regional Multiple Listing Service’s data, this chart enables you to focus on your specific price range(s) rather than use the broad-brush approach thus allowing you to size up your competition and better position yourself.

The next column provides the actual number of listings sold in this price range in the 3rd quarter of 2013

This is followed by the percentage this price range represents of the total number of listings sold in all of Lake Norman area 13

Next is the number of active listings in this price range

This is followed by the percentage this price range represents of the total number of active listings

Finally, the last column represent the absorption rate or the number of months of supply for each price range based upon the number of listings divided by the number of sales. (A balanced housing market is 6 – 8 months so you can use this to gadge your price range).

Change seems to be in the air in our Lake Norman real estate market. Lake Norman’s closed home sales have maintained historically strong numbers (post the recession) each month in 2013 but they are continuing their softening trend since our record setting high in May. While we still logged in some solid closed home sales numbers in September, we actually appear to be struggling right now to keep our sales up for the rest of this fall/winter above last year’s. At 104 single-family home sales in September we logged in the best September since 2007 and we may even equal 2007 once the late comers input their sales into the MLS but will we sustain this trend?

Let’s take a closer look at the numbers to glean some insight into the short term future and exactly where the Lake Norman housing market stands right now.

Here are the September 2013 numbers from our Charlotte Multiple Listing Service for our Lake Norman Area 13 real estate market:

* Note that the Charlotte Regional Multiple Listing Service created two new categories, Under Contract Showings (UCS) to continue and Under Contract no showings (UCNS). These replaced the Contingent, Conditional and Pending categories. Contingent Sales are now joined with Conditional sales in my reports.

Some significant additional statistics for you:

“Distressed sales” (Foreclosures (REOS), defaults, Short Sales) comprised 15.4% of Lake Norman’s total home sales which is up from 9.4 last month, 11.3% in July, 6.9% in June, 10.6% in May , the 14% in April but down from 20.4% in March, 16.9% in February and January’s 29%. We only had 16 distressed home sales in September. The average price for distressed single family home sales jumped back up to $348,168 from last month’s low of $252,526. Distressed active listings comprise only 3.2% of our total inventory of Lake Norman homes sale! According to a recent article on Realtor.org in the US foreclosures and short sales represented 12% of August sales.

34.6 % of our closed sales were waterfront homes which is equal to the last few months. The average sales price of Lake Norman waterfront homes in September was $738,972 which is up slightly from last month;s $709,753 but well below July’s $874,988 June’s $990,693 and May’s $778,045. The average price per square foot was $211.11 dropping for the second month in a row after peaking at$229. This can be directly attributed to having only 6 waterfront home sales over $1 million for the second month in a row compared to 13 sales of waterfront homes over $1 million in both June and July.

8 new construction homes sold in September which was 3 less than last month’s. The average listing price vs sales price of new construction single family homes was 101%! Clearly there isn’t a lot if ANY wiggle room on prices of new homes. We currently have 50 new construction homes under contract. The average sales price was up to $406,596 compared to last month’s $373,183. It is important to note that many of the new construction homes you will see driving around the lake are custom homes so will not be included in our Multiple Listing Service numbers.

55% of Lake Norman’s September home sales were under $400,000 up from 50% last month.

66.3% of our August home sales were under $500,000 which is about equal to last month but significantly lower than last winter’s in February’s 81.7%, 81% in January, 74 % in December, 75% in November. After seeing an upswing in both the trade-up price ranges and our Lake Norman luxury homes earlier in the summer, we have seen several months of weaker sales in our trade-up and luxury housing markets.

Our “Under Contract Show” AND “Under Contract No show”/Pending sales combined total of 118 was the fifth month in a row of decline after April’s record high of 319 . At 207, we have fewer homes under contract than any other month in 2013 but January. It is not only clear that our Lake Norman housing market has definitely slowed down but now we appear to be struggling to keep pace with 2012.

Fall in Lake Norman NC is truly epitomized in this photo; the bright “Carolina Blue Skies”, the brilliant fall colors offered by Lake Norman’s shoreline of stunning hardwood trees, the pretty blue water, and the serenity of life at a waterfront home. In the last few weeks we saw the last of our warm summer temperatures give way to our nearly perfect 70 degree days and 50 degree evenings. Windows can be open all day offering invigorating fresh air and gentle breezes in our homes. Cycling and outdoor sports of all kinds are so much more enjoyable. Life is good! I truly love living where we have 4 seasons. Just as I tire of one, the next one arrives.

This gorgeous photo was taken by renowned artist Cotton Ketchie, owner of Mooresville’sLandmark Galleries, who spends much of his time driving all over North Carolina and even summer trips around the country, taking stunning photos. And, of course, he also takes some amazing photos of Lake Norman like this one. If you haven’t visited his store on Main Street in Historic Downtown Mooresville you should put it on your list for 2013! Continue reading →

Want the very latest insight into our Lake Norman real estate market? So do I which is why, every month, I do a snapshot analysis of the middle two weeks of the month to get a sense of where our Lake Norman real estate market is at this very moment…an almost live insight into the heartbeat of the Lake Norman housing market. These Hot Sheet reports serve as pretty good predictors of our short-term Lake Norman real estate market.

Lake Norman’s 2013 real estate sales have been breaking records since January 1st. That said, it appears more likely at each passing month that our number of monthly home sales peaked in May and are now trending downward slightly each month. The numbers below further substantiate this although there is a slight uptick in new contracts. We currently have 217 single family homes under contract in all of Lake Norman which is a pretty significant drop from last month’s Hot Sheet number of 253, July’s 260, June’s 301 and May’s high of 330 but they are just about equal to our end of August number of 218. Are our sales leveling out rather than trending downward? Let’s take a look at a snapshot of the past two weeks’ activity:

Lake Norman Real Estate’s Two-Week Hot Sheet

9/20/2013

* The above chart is a summary of today’s “Hot Sheet” from the Charlotte Multiple Listing Service for single family homes in all of Lake Norman (area 13). These numbers represent a real time snapshot of the past two week’s activity. (September 6th – 20th). As always, I have included the past 6 months so that you can put these numbers in perspective. Continue reading →

Lake Norman homes sales remain historically strong (post the recession) but continue their softening trend after our record setting high in May. That said, we still logged in some solid number in August. At 128 single-family home sales we had the 4th best month in the Lake Norman real estate market since August 2007 . Once the late comers input their sales into the MLS my guess is that we will have closed 132 contracts last month.

Let’s take a closer look at the numbers to glean some insight into the short term future and exactly where the Lake Norman housing market stands right now.

Here are the August 2013 numbers from our Charlotte Multiple Listing Service for our Lake Norman Area 13 real estate market:

* Note that the Charlotte Regional Multiple Listing Service created two new categories, Under Contract Showings (UCS) to continue and Under Contract no showings (UCNS). These replaced the Contingent, Conditional and Pending categories. Contingent Sales are now joined with Conditional sales in my reports.

Some significant additional statistics for you:

“Distressed sales” (Foreclosures (REOS), defaults, Short Sales) comprised 9.4% of Lake Norman’s total home sales which is down from 11.3% last month, up from 6.9% in June but below May’s 10.6% , the 14% in April, 20.4% in March, 16.9% in February and January’s 29%. We only had 12 distressed home sales in August. The average price for distressed single family home sales was $252,526 so clearly the very lowest of Lake Norman’s price ranges. Distressed active listings comprise only 3.9% of our total inventory of Lake Norman homes for sale! According to a recent article on Trulia the “normal” delinquency and foreclosure rate for the US is 5.25%.

31 % of our closed sales were waterfront homes which is equal to last month’s. The average sales price of Lake Norman waterfront homes in August was $709,753 which is down from last month’s $874,988 June’s $990,693 and May’s $778,045. The average price per square foot was $214.5 which was down significantly from last month’s $229 and all prior months this year after February. This can be directly attributed to having only 6 waterfront home sales over $1 million compared to 13 sales of waterfront homes over $1 million in both June and July.

11 new construction homes sold which was 3 less than last month’s. The average listing price vs sales price of new construction single family homes was 101%! Clearly there isn’t a lot if ANY wiggle room on prices of new homes. The average sales price was $373,183. It is important to note that many of the new construction homes you will see driving around the lake are custom homes so will not be included in our Multiple Listing Service numbers.

50% of Lake Norman’s August home sales were under $400,000.

67.2% of our August home sales were under $500,000 which is up from the past few months but significantly lower than February’s 81.7%, 81% in January, 74 % in December, 75% in November. After seeing an upswing in both the trade-up price ranges and our Lake Norman luxury homes, August seemed to return to our my typical post recession norms.

Our “Under Contract Show” AND “Under Contract No show”/Pending sales combined total of 118 was the fourth month in a row of decline after April’s record high of 319 . Looking at this number compared to the past two years (see below), it is clear that our Lake Norman housing market has definitely slowed down. There is no doubt now that our home sales in Lake Norman this year did peak in May but seem to be maintaining a slight edge on the same period in 2012.

Lake Norman sunsets are as unique as snowflakes. While no two are identical, they are almost all stunning! Sometimes it seems as if the horizon is on fire. Other times, like when I took the photo above from one of my waterfront listings, they are soft pink and lavender hues. As you can see, on a slightly windy evening the water will even get small white caps while on a calm evening the water truly becomes a stunningly clear mirror of the shoreline.

To make your desktop calendar, go to the round button at the top of this site’s home page entitled: “Lake Norman Calendar”. Click on this button and up will come this image of my Lake Norman photo wallpaper calender for September 2013. All you have to do is right click and select “set as background”. This is a copyrighted photo so please understand that I can not send you a copy of this photo without the calendar. Thank you! Continue reading →

Want the very latest insight into our Lake Norman real estate market? So do I which is why, every month, I do a snapshot analysis of the middle two weeks of the month to get a sense of where our Lake Norman real estate market is at this very moment…an almost live insight into the heartbeat of the Lake Norman housing market. These Hot Sheet reports serve as pretty good predictors of our short-term Lake Norman real estate market.

Lake Norman’s 2013 real estate sales have been breaking records since January 1st. That said, it appears more likely at each passing month that our number of monthly home sales may have peaked in May and are now trending down slightly each month. The numbers below further substantiate this. We currently have 253 single family homes under contract in all of Lake Norman which is a drop from last month’s 260, June’s 301 and May’s high of 330 but is still the 6th highest number since I have been keeping these records. Let’s take a look at a snapshot of the past two weeks’ activity:

Lake Norman Real Estate’s Two-Week Hot Sheet

8/21/2013

* The above chart is a summary of today’s “Hot Sheet” from the Charlotte Multiple Listing Service for single family homes in all of Lake Norman (area 13). These numbers represent a real time snapshot of the past two week’s activity. (August 7th – 21st). As always, I have included the past 6 months so that you can put these numbers in perspective. Continue reading →

Lake Norman homes sales in July were oh so close to matching July 2007’s but still were the best July since 2007 . While our closed sales of 142 fell short of last month’s and our record setting high in May, we still logged in some very impressive numbers. At 142 single-family home sales we had the 3rd best month in the Lake Norman real estate market since July 2007 . Once the late comers input their sales into the MLS my guess is that we will have closed 145 contracts last month.

Let’s take a closer look at the numbers to glean some insight into the short term future and exactly where the Lake Norman housing market stands right now.

Here are the July 2013 numbers from our Charlotte Multiple Listing Service for our Lake Norman Area 13 real estate market:

* Note that the Charlotte Regional Multiple Listing Service created two new categories, Under Contract Showings (UCS) to continue and Under Contract no showings (UCNS). These replaced the Contingent, Conditional and Pending categories. Contingent Sales are now joined with Conditional sales in my reports.

Want the very latest insight into our Lake Norman real estate market? So do I which is why, every month, I do a snapshot analysis of the middle two weeks of the month to get a sense of where our Lake Norman real estate market is at this very moment…an almost live insight into the heartbeat of the Lake Norman housing market. These Hot Sheet reports serve as pretty good predictors of our short-term Lake Norman real estate market.

Lake Norman’s 2013 real estate sales have been breaking records since January 1st. It appears, however, that our number of monthly home sales may have peaked in May and are now trending down slightly each month. The numbers below further substantiate this. We currently have 260 single family homes under contract in all of Lake Norman which is a drop from last month’s 301 and May’s high of 330 but is still the 5th highest number since I have been keeping these records. Let’s take a look at a snapshot of the past two weeks’ activity:

Lake Norman Real Estate’s Two-Week Hot Sheet

7/21/2013

* The above chart is a summary of today’s “Hot Sheet” from the Charlotte Multiple Listing Service for single family homes in all of Lake Norman (area 13). These numbers represent a real time snapshot of the past two week’s activity. (July 7th – 21st). As always, I have included the past 6 months so that you can put these numbers in perspective. Continue reading →